nativity scene

As some of you who follow this blog of mine already know, I’m working in a psychiatric nursing facility. No, I’m not a nurse. I’m an occupational therapist. One of the most beautiful things about my job is that I can do woodworking (a hobby that I truly love) and get paid for it.

The idea came for a nativity scene during one of the welfare committee meetings and as you probably guessed, I was tasked to make one. Buying one would be too expensive for the charitable nursing home.

I found templates for the figurines on the internet and started to design something based on silhouette concept. I worked with my patients to paste the template on the wood, saw it out with a scroll saw, sand it and finally finished it with a coat of varnish.

My director thought I salvage the base from someone’s table top and was surprised that it came from rough sawn lumbar. After the nativity scene was displayed, my patients gathered around the display for tea and to admire their handy work.